


Thank God For October 19, 1985

by krashlyntome (bestthreemonths)



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-18
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 00:31:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5026723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestthreemonths/pseuds/krashlyntome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ashlyn Harris loves birthdays. Especially her own. Over time, she finds someone who loves celebrating her birthday just as much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this in celebration of Ashlyn's #dirty30 wayyy before I knew just how #blessed we'd be this weekend. ENJOY!
> 
> P.S. 50 comments and 100 kudos = bonus content! ;)

**The First One She Remembers (1991)**

For as long as she can remember, Ashlyn Harris has loved her birthday. The first one she remembers fully is her sixth birthday. She had just started kindergarten and was excited to spend her birthday on the beach with her entire class and her family. It was as perfect a birthday as she can remember, and in her 20s, she wonders why it’s no longer that easy to be so thrilled by anything.

She gets her first surfboard that day, a present from her parents, and her big brother helps her stand up for the first time on it. She and 22 other kindergarteners run around her favorite place on earth, building sandcastles, eating hot dogs and hamburgers her dad grills, pinning tails on a donkey, splashing each other, and making up games like little kids so often do. They play till they wear themselves out, coinciding perfectly with sunset, when everyone’s parents pick them up and Ashlyn’s mom carries her exhausted 6-year-old to the car.

She remembers so vividly the moment her parents tucked her in, kissing her on both cheeks. She had asked, fighting heavy lids and the sleep that threatened to overtake her, if every day could be her birthday.

Sadly, that wish didn’t come true, but the older she gets, the more Ashlyn realizes not every day has to be her birthday for her to have the same sense of fullness and bliss she had on that day.

**The One With the Heartbreak (2001)**

Ashlyn’s Sweet 16 is anything but.

She may or may not be nursing an intense crush on one of her best friends, and the more she tries to rein it in, the more difficult Heather makes it to stay away.

Her birthday falls on a Friday, and it starts wonderfully with her arriving to school to a locker decorated with streamers and balloons.

“Happy birthday, bestie!” Heather exclaims, hugging Ashlyn tight while Liz looks on, rolling her eyes. Ashlyn sticks her tongue out at her childhood best friend, who has always been unfairly skeptical of Heather’s relationship with Ashlyn.

Heather also baked cupcakes for their lunch table, insisting the whole cafeteria sing to her, which makes Ashlyn blush with embarrassment, but secretly she loves the attention from Heather. Everyone knows her, and everyone loves her—if you don’t, you have to at least pretend or else people would react with shock and assume you’re just jealous of her.

Honestly, Ashlyn hasn’t always liked Heather. She was always a little intimidated by her, and she and Liz would gossip freshman year about how they didn’t get the big deal—she wasn’t _that_ great. But she kind of was, that’s the thing. She was a varsity cheerleader, she played tennis, she got straight A’s, and she was the freshman class president. If you wanted it, chances are, Heather McDonagh had it.

And for a while, that made Ashlyn kind of resent her. She resented her so much she thought about her all the time and would find ways to bring her up in conversation just to analyze her. It wasn’t until prom night freshman year that she really saw her as a person. Heather, of course, had been asked to go by a senior, whom she happily obliged. Prom was only for juniors and seniors and their dates, but the after parties were open to anyone, provided you knew the right people. Luckily for Ashlyn and Liz, their older brothers had always given them a certain level of street cred in Satellite Beach, so they were at the biggest after-prom party when Heather and her crew arrived.

It didn’t take long for the party to get out of control, and when Ashlyn left, she found Heather sitting on the porch in her beautiful royal blue dress, tears leaving streaks of mascara on her face. She pretended she hadn’t been crying, but there was no hiding it. Ashlyn couldn’t help it, she had to comfort her. Heather poured her heart out to this girl she had never really spoken to about what an awful night she had, and how her date was her ride home, but he told her he’d only take her home if she’d sleep with him, which she didn’t want to do. Ashlyn didn’t have a car, but her house was just down the road, so she invited Heather to sleep over, and the rest was history.

The girls went from being practically strangers (although nobody was ever really a stranger in Satellite Beach) to best friends overnight. They had sleepovers on weeknights, Ashlyn went on cruises with her family, and they were attached at the hip. As their relationship grew stronger, so did Ashlyn’s feelings. And so did Heather’s, Ashlyn was sure.

Heather throws a major party that night for Ashlyn, and while she is excited to drink and celebrate with the entire school, she is mostly thrilled that Heather would do that for her, and it only further confirms what she knows in her heart to be true.

She and Liz get ready at Heather’s, where she walks around confidently in her underwear like nothing is amiss as Ashlyn tries with all her might to look elsewhere. They pregame with mixed drinks Heather prepares, and it doesn’t take long for them to all feel drunk. By the time people start arriving, they are all ready to rage. And rage they do.

Ashlyn loses count of the drinks she’s had, but Heather hasn’t left her side for a moment. When the last of the partygoers were out the door, she and Heather dissolve in a fit of giggles, sloppily high-fiving each other over a well-executed party. Liz is already passed out on the couch, so Ashlyn and Heather climb the stairs to her bedroom, so eager to get in bed that they just strip off their clothes and throw T-shirts on. This is what Ashlyn loves, seeing Heather behind the scenes like this. Everyone else—including Ashlyn at one time—would imagine Heather being just as prim and proper at home, probably wearing adorable matching Victoria’s Secret pajama sets and sleep masks at all times, but Ashlyn sees the girl who puts on her retainer and throws her hair in a messy bun and forgets to take off her makeup, which somehow makes her love her even more.

“I’m so happy we’re friends,” Heather slurs once the lights are off. “I can’t believe we’ve only known each other a few months. It feels like forever.”

“Yeah,” Ashlyn agrees, trying to steady her breathing. It is always a little difficult when Heather tends to be a close talker, with these intense eyes that wouldn’t let you pull away.

“Do you believe in soulmates?” Heather whispers, and Ashlyn’s heart stops.

“Yeah,” Ashlyn says. It is quiet for a moment, and Heather opens her mouth to say something else, but before she can, Ashlyn’s lips are on hers. It lasts no more than two seconds before Heather is flying away, jumping back off the bed.

“What the hell?” she exclaims, and Ashlyn wants to die right then and there. “I—I’m sorry,” she says. “I didn’t know—I think—I’m going to go sleep in my parents’ room.” She leaves the room quickly, and Ashlyn is stunned.

She can’t breathe at first, but once she can, she wishes she couldn’t, because that’s when the tears come. She doesn’t know when she stops crying, but she doesn’t fall asleep till after the sun rose, and as soon as she wakes up in the morning, she slips out the back door through the courtyard without even telling Liz she is leaving.

Heather tries to reach out to Ashlyn, to set things straight, so to speak, but Ashlyn is too embarrassed to ever respond to her texts or look her in the eye. Heather’s family moves halfway through the school year, so luckily she doesn’t have to ever again.

**The One With the Good Kind of Nervous (2010)**

Ashlyn spends her 25th birthday training, but that’s all her life is by now. After battling injury after injury, she is finally getting ready to go on the road with the senior national team for the first time. She is excited to train with them even though she is the only one going who won’t actually be playing in the games for World Cup qualifying. It means seeing some of her teammates from her UNC days, Yael, one of her best friends, and HAO, one of the first seniors to reach out to her when she started, and from the U-19 World Cup, like Rachel Buehler.

HAO assures her that the girls are great and that she’ll have a blast, but she is still nervous and is going into it knowing she has to prove herself if she wants to get called back.

Her best friend, Whitney, Skypes in to wish her a happy birthday, but ends up talking her through her packing list, impressed that her last-minute, fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants best friend is packing so early rather than in the hours before her flight is set to leave.

“You’re going to have an amazing time, Ash,” she tells her. “And you’re going to kick ass. I’m so excited for you!”

“I’m terrified,” Ashlyn says. “But I feel good about it, like this isn’t just a courtesy call-up.”

“Of course it isn’t!” Whitney exclaims. “Come on. The time for that would have been three years ago. This is all you, baby. Just watch. This camp is going to change your entire life.”

If only Whitney had known then how right she was.

**The One With the Mixed Signals (2011)**

Will she or won’t she?

That’s the only question that is on Ashlyn’s mind all day the day before her 26th birthday. She and Ali aren’t together anymore, and she is learning to pretend to be okay with it, especially because they met less than a year ago and have supposedly found closure. But she doesn’t know what that means. Neither one of them do.

As much as she wants to pretend she is focused on having an awesome birthday, all she can think about is if Ali is going to wish her a happy birthday. She is waiting from 6 p.m. the night before her birthday because she knows in Germany it had just gone midnight.

Luckily she doesn’t have to wait long, because when she wakes up, a tweet is waiting for her.

“Happy Birthday to the beautiful @Ashlyn_Harris hope you have an amazing day!! Best wishes :) #dontdoanythingIwouldntdo,” it reads. She’s embarrassed at how giddy it makes her, but she knows all her friends who have been charged with keeping her accountable and away from Ali at all costs will be paying attention, so she doesn’t tweet her back.

“You forget how much I know about you,” she types. “#isthereanythingyouwouldntdo? ;)” She doesn’t have time to think before pressing send on the text to Ali.

She figures that will be all, so she considers sending another text actually thanking her for the wishes, but Ali barely takes any time at all to respond. “For you? There’s very little I wouldn’t do,” Ali types. “Miss you. A ton.”

This is when Ashlyn feels over her head and like maybe she needs to recruit Whitney’s help, but of course, when she sends Whit the screenshot, she reacts like a best friend should.

“You’re a glutton for punishment, Ashlyn Harris,” she writes back. “STOP. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. You are over Ali Krieger, remember? Don’t ruin your birthday like this.”

Ashlyn happily ignores her, electing instead to text Ali back, getting flirtier as she goes.

“Maybe a plane ticket to Germany would be a good gift for me? ;)”

“Ha. With that enormous paycheck I get from Frankfurt? You bet,” Ali writes back.

“You have enough miles, world traveler,” Ashlyn reminds her.

“We could go somewhere warm instead,” Ali suggests. “Likeeee… Cancun? ;)”

“Best time ever,” Ashlyn says. “That was almost exactly a year ago.”

“Oh I know,” Ali says. “Favorite camp. Hands down.”

“Because it was the first one you got laid at ;)” Ashlyn says.

Then Ali stops responding, and Ashlyn regrets everything. She spends the next six or so hours obsessing over what she should have said instead before Ali finally texts back.

“Phone died… just saw this… lol. Maybeeee.”

Ashlyn really does contemplate not responding for six hours, but she knows Ali will just accuse her of playing the same “childish games” that supposedly caused them to break up in the first place (among literally a hundred other things).

“Thanks for the well wishes,” Ashlyn writes. “Talking to you made me smile.”

“Well I like making you smile :) Miss it,” Ali says.

“I miss your laugh,” Ashlyn writes, and it feels cathartic to say so.

“I do have Skype still, silly,” Ali says.

“You mean it’s good for things other than cheap thrills and getting off? ;)” Ashlyn says. “I had no idea.”

“Hahaha,” Ali writes back. “Apparently so. Guess we’ll have to try to find out…”

Ashlyn likes what this sounds like, and she quickly checks the time to make sure it’s not too late in Germany, but Ali’s typing bubble pops up before she can suggest it.

“I told you we could be just friends :)” she writes. “I’m going out now but I hope you have a great rest of your day! Sending love <3”

And just like that, the spell is broken. Whitney is too good a friend to say “I told you so,” but Ashlyn feels it in the sympathetic look she gets over Skype when she’s consoling her.

**The One With the Tension Relief (2012)**

There are things Ashlyn would rather be doing than waking up at 7 a.m. on her birthday, but the first thing she sees when she opens her eyes is the picture and note she left for herself on her phone reminding her that waking up so early on her day off is okay when it means she gets to see her absolute favorite person in the world in a matter of hours.

Like clockwork, Ali’s grinning face fills her screen, indicating an incoming call, and Ashlyn slides her finger across the screen to answer it, smiling sleepily.

“Morning,” she murmurs.

“Happy birthday, honey!” Ali exclaims. “Are you awake and ready?”

“No,” Ashlyn says. “But I’m all packed.”

“Good girl,” Ali says. “You better get up and dressed so you can get to the train and to me sooner.”

“You know the train leaves at 8:30 no matter what I do, right?” Ashlyn laughs.

“Maybe they’ll make an exception if you tell them it’s your birthday,” Ali says, then squeals nonsensically. 

“Use your words, Alex,” Ashlyn says, fighting a yawn.

“I can’t wait to give you your prezzie,” Ali says. “Actually, that reminds me. I have things to take care of before you get here. I’ll see you soon, okay? Make sure you tell the conductor it’s okay if he steps on it, you’ve got places to be.”

“I love you,” Ashlyn says.

“I love you too, birthday girl!” Ali says. “Eek!”

Ashlyn laughs, hanging up the phone. Ali’s eeks are her favorite. She quickly showers and gets dressed, and she catches up on birthday tweets on her taxi ride to the train station. It’ll never get old, living this close to Ali, she thinks. And hopefully one day soon they’ll be a lot closer. But for now, being in the same country is enough.

Ali is at practice when Ashlyn’s train gets to Frankfurt, so Ashlyn is prepared to hail a cab when an accented voice calls her name in the station. She spins around to find the source and sees a man in a suit holding a sign that says “Birthday Girl (Ashlyn Harris).” She can’t help the cheesy grin that spreads across her face as she walks toward him. He takes her bags and tries to greet her in broken English, but she’s barely listening, just thinking about how adorable Ali is to do this. Her jaw drops when she follows him out to a stretch limo.

“No she didn’t,” Ashlyn says to herself. The driver opens the door for her and closes it behind her before stowing her luggage in the trunk. There is a bottle of champagne and a bouquet of flowers with a card on the seat, and she grabs the card first, relishing Ali’s loopy handwriting.

“Willkommen in Frankfurt!” it reads. “Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! That means happy birthday if you couldn’t figure it out. I’m so happy you’re here and I can’t wait to see you. I’m sad I won’t see you till later, but drink some bubbly and relax and enjoy the morning. Ich liebe dich, mein Schatz (I promise that’s a nice thing to call you) XO, Alex”

Ashlyn snaps a picture of the setup and texts it to Niki and Whit before popping open the bottle, pouring it into a flute. She takes a selfie with the glass, raising it like she’s making a toast and puckering her lips to send to Ali.

She’s only been to Frankfurt a handful of times, but she can tell right away they aren’t headed toward Ali’s apartment or the soccer field. It takes only a few minutes to pull up to a beautiful stone building that looks like a fancy hotel, but the word “spa” is familiar to her. She has only had time for a few sips of champagne, but the driver assures her there will be more inside and that her things are safe.

“I will stay here,” he promises, escorting her to the door.

“Danke,” she says, and he grins.

A woman greets her at the door. “Ashlyn?” she asks, in perfect English, just slightly accented. “Happy birthday! I’m Christine. Alexandra said you might be a little tired, so hopefully we can relax you, yes?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Ashlyn agrees.

“Good,” Christine says. She hands Ashlyn a robe and a pair of the softest slippers she’s ever touched. “This is your private dressing area, so take your time, and you can leave your things in there.”

“Thank you,” Ashlyn says, too blown away to say anything else. The dressing room is gorgeous. There is light in the room from the frosted glass windows which allow her privacy, and there are two pitchers of water, one with cucumber and one without. Of course neither has ice, but the cucumber water she selects is cool and refreshing anyway. She strips down and puts on the robe, practically melting into the incredible softness. It’s lightweight enough to not make her feel hot, but warm enough to make her feel cozy and safe from the weather, which is growing colder every day. The only thing that would make this any better, Ashlyn thinks as she slides her feet into the cool, memory foam slippers, is Ali being there, but she is blown away by her thoughtfulness. She sends her a quick text, just her usual “I love you so much, you’re amazing,” before setting her phone on top of her clothes and emerging from the room

“Right this way,” Christine says, leading Ashlyn down a dim hallway lit with candles. The place smells amazing, and if she ever listened to her mom about candles and aromatherapy, she might recognize the smells, but she’s fine with it nonetheless.

When she opens the door to a massage room, the first thing Ashlyn notices isn’t the rose petals or the candles all around the room, and it’s not even the incredibly handsome masseurs standing by the door, but Ali, perched on a massive massage table that really looks more like a king-sized bed, hair tossed atop her head in a messy bun, free of any makeup—yes, even mascara—dressed only in a robe, her beautifully tanned legs—yes, even in Germany in October—hanging over the side, lips in a wide smile.

“Happy birthday, baby,” Ali says, lifting her hands as if to say “get a load of this” as Ashlyn walks toward her. She looks up at Ashlyn, wrapping her arms around her neck and pulling her in for a kiss. “You didn’t think I would let you have all the fun, did you?” she asks. “I’m so happy you’re here.”

“I’m so happy you’re here,” Ashlyn says. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to relax and enjoy anything knowing I’d get to see you when it’s all over.” Her hands find Ali's legs and she rubs the soft skin underneath her robe, just above her knees, before becoming painfully aware that they aren't alone. She just wants to be with Ali, but she is grateful for all the effort that clearly went into this surprise, so she kisses her quickly on the forehead. "So what is this, a couples' massage?"

Ali nods, grinning, and says something in German to the two men, who nod and leave the room. She slides her robe off, standing up and hanging it on a hook on the door. "Get undressed," she says.

Ashlyn's eyes go wide. "Alex," she hisses. "I'm not doing that when they're right outside. What did you even say?" Her face turns red.

"Ashlyn, relax," Ali laughs. "They left so we could get undressed and lie down without them seeing anything."

“Oh, true,” Ashlyn says, taking off her robe. She wraps her arms around Ali, pressing her body against her, and she feels the hair on Ali’s neck stand up as she presses a kiss to her neck. “Bet you wish you did what I thought now.”

After an hourlong massage during which Ali sometimes got more handsy beneath the blanket covering their asses than the masseurs, Ashlyn feels completely blissed out. She can’t keep her hands off Ali when they return to the dressing room, but Ali manages to resist her, despite a few lingering kisses and nips at Ashlyn’s collarbone.

What Ashlyn doesn’t yet know is that Ali specifically picked a place for lunch far enough away that there will be plenty of opportunity to work up an appetite with the partition up.

**The One With All The Texts (2013)**

The first time Ashlyn truly dreads her birthday is in 2013. She’s alone in Sweden while her best friend and her girlfriend are in the U.S. doing their—and her—dream job.

Of course they had to go, there was never a question about that, and if either had made any indication they were thinking otherwise, Ashlyn would have shut them down immediately.

Ashlyn will always remember this birthday as the loneliest one of her life. She has practice, and Seger and some of the girls take her out later, but everyone wants to spend special days with their loved ones, and the thing that sticks out the most is Ali’s constant absence from her side, especially at night when she crawls under the covers, slightly buzzed and way too cold in her empty bed.

She finally catches up on the texts and tweets and Facebook posts scrolling through her phone in bed. Ali has been texting her all day, but she only fully gets to appreciate it now.

“Happy birthday my love!” she had sent when it turned midnight in Sweden. “You get an extra long one because I plan on celebrating from now till tomorrow at midnight here. I miss you too much.”

Six hours later, she had texted again. “It’s your birthday in your place of birth officially, and perfect timing for your first birthday present. I LOVE YOU!” Attached was a picture of Ali holding two plane tickets and another picture of the tickets close up. Ashlyn could see they’re for the return trip to the U.S. after Sweden, the final destination being Satellite Beach.

When it turned midnight where Ali is, she sent another one, full of emojis. “Way past my bedtime, but can’t stop thinking about you,” she had written. “See you in my dreams ;)” It was a cheesy line, but Ali is a lot cornier than people give her credit for.

Ashlyn’s mom had posted a photo of Ashlyn on Facebook of her second birthday party in which she’s covered in cake, her caption reading “My baby girl turns 28 today, but I’m not sure how because I’m still only 35… Happy birthday Ashlyn Michelle!”

Ali had liked it, of course, and left a comment saying “Oh how I love this little nugget… not much has changed ;) Messy eater!”

Ashlyn probably wouldn’t have even seen the comment right away if Carmelina Moscato hadn’t taken a screenshot and sent it to a group message with both Ashlyn and Ali, with a shocked emoji. “Gross, Kriegs. Some things should stay private,” she texted, and Ashlyn practically choked on her coffee when she saw it.

“DYING,” she had written back, and Ali had sent back an embarrassed emoji.

It’s not until almost midnight that Ashlyn is finally able to actually talk to Ali, when she FaceTimes her to check in.

“Hey, pretty,” Ashlyn says sleepily, turning onto her side. Ali looks freshly showered, but she’s wearing mascara of course. She’s wearing a UNC shirt that dwarfs her, and Ashlyn knows she must have swiped it while packing, always taking a piece of Ashlyn wherever she goes.

“I can’t see you,” Ali whines.

“I’m in bed!” Ashlyn says. “I’m sleepy.”

“You don’t want your final present?” Ali asks, pouting.

“Babe, you can still give me a strip tease,” Ashlyn laughs, and Ali turns red.

“Ash,” she says.

“No, seriously, hang on, let me take off my pants,” Ashlyn says. “Go ahead, I probably won’t fall asleep. No promises though.”

Ali flips the screen so Ashlyn can see Press and Whit sitting on the other bed, heads bent toward each other in silent laughter. “Please stop,” Ali says, and Ashlyn almost dies.

“Sorry guys,” Ashlyn says guiltily.

“You forget I live with you,” Whitney says. “I’ve heard worse.”

“Enough,” Press laughs. “We just wanted to say happy birthday, Ashlyn, but now we’re going to get coffee somewhere far away from here. Have at it!”

“And you wonder why they think you’re sex-crazed,” Ali sighs once they’ve left the room.

“Alexandra,” Ashlyn says. “You FaceTime me on my birthday, you’re wearing Carolina blue, it’s been a week since you last touched me, what do you expect?”

“How are you?” Ali asks. “I’ve felt horrible all day that I can’t be with you.”

“You have been,” Ashlyn says. “Not the way we want, of course, but I’m really thankful you’ve gone out of your way to make it special. I got the flowers. They’re beautiful.”

“Don’t let them die,” Ali says. “Keep them alive for two more weeks.”

Ashlyn groans. “Why did you have to remind me?” she asks. “Two more weeks is going to be impossible. You’ve been gone for one and I’m dying.”

“Remember when we used to be apart for months and together for just a few days at a time?” Ali says gently, and yeah, Ashlyn does remember. “This is way better, baby.”

“I know,” Ashlyn agrees. “Though it would be nice if I were there.”

“I know,” Ali echoes. “Everything is going to change when you get your surgery. You’re going to kill it coming back.” She hates seeing Ashlyn not performing to the best of her ability, but more than that, she hates watching how frustrated and upset Ashlyn gets over the impact her knee injury has on her game. And of course she hates seeing Ashlyn in any kind of pain.

“You know what would be a really good birthday present?” Ashlyn sighs. “Not having this conversation.”

Ali would be lying if she said she weren’t a little hurt by that, but she understands. “I can think of a way better conversation, and it doesn’t even require words,” she says.

Ashlyn doesn’t think she’s ever been happier to see Ali take off a UNC shirt.

**The One With Coffee in the Morning With the Person She Loves (2014)**

Before opening her eyes, Ashlyn knows it’s her birthday from the smell wafting from the kitchen. As much as she wishes she could stretch out and pull Ali in for a cuddle, the blueberry pancakes she knows are waiting for her will make up for it.

She is still wiping the sleep from her eyes while she makes her way down the stairs. When she gets to the bottom, she sees Ali, hair in a bun, wearing a Nike sweatshirt that barely covers her bum, her pink polka-dotted undies playing peek-a-boo beneath the hem.

“That looks good enough to eat,” Ashyn says, and Ali spins around, surprised.

“No!” she whines. “Back to bed! I was going to bring it to you.”

“That’s okay,” Ashlyn says, walking toward her. She kisses Ali on the forehead and rests her hands on her hips. “I don’t mind waking up to this view,” she says, pinching her bare upper thigh. Ali rolls her eyes, wriggling into Ashlyn’s embrace.

“Happy birthday, my love,” Ali says, pecking her on the lips. “Now back to bed so I can make this go according to plan.”

Ashlyn obeys, and when breakfast is over, she’s still tasting the last of the syrup on Ali’s lips, whimpering a bit when Ali pulls away. “Kiss me,” Ashlyn whines, because it’s her birthday and she can get away with it.

“I need coffee breaks,” Ali says, taking a sip from the mug on her bedside table.

“Aren’t we going to get coffee in like an hour?” Ashlyn laughs.

“Yeah,” Ali says, blushing. “Shut up.”

“I learned a long time ago not to come between you and your coffee,” Ashlyn says.

“It’s not the coffee,” Ali says, putting it down. “It’s this whole thing.”

“What?” Ashlyn asks.

“It’s the feeling of having coffee in the morning with the person I love,” Ali says. “That’s what I love about it. I can have coffee anytime, anywhere. That’s not the part that matters.”

Ashlyn isn’t sure, but she is willing to bet there are literal hearts in her eyes as she looks at Ali. “So,” she says. “Who’s this lucky person?”

Ali answers with a roll of her eyes and a kiss on the lips.

**The One With All the Jet Setting (2015)**

Ashlyn wakes up feeling like it’s Christmas morning, even though it’s essentially just another Friday morning in Satellite Beach. Or it would be, if it weren’t for the fact that Ali would be landing in… 4 and a half hours. Ashlyn groans, cursing her body for waking her up so early. She had even stayed up late talking to Ali as she waited at the airport for her 11:40 flight to Atlanta, and if her text conversation tells the whole story (which it probably does), she passed out around 1:30 a.m. her time, leaving Ali an hour to send pouty emojis and imploring her to wake up and entertain her.

She knows she won’t be able to get back to sleep given her excitement, so she takes a quick shower and gets downstairs before her parents are even up, making the first pot of coffee and priding herself on being a real grown-up. It only took 29 years and 362 days.

When a Snapchat from Ali pops up, she grins, knowing she must have just landed in Atlanta. It’s a mirror picture of Ali, who looks sleepy but still beautiful even beneath the harsh fluorescent lighting, with the caption “2 hr layover… help.”

Ashlyn lifts the cup of coffee to her face, smiling, and snaps a selfie, which she captions “Hurry!”

When her parents wake up, they’re pleasantly surprised to see her up and at ‘em, but they exchange a knowing glance when she mentions Ali. They chat about birthday plans and finally get Ashlyn to agree that yes, they can have a big dinner celebration when the Victory Tour brings them back to Orlando.

She drives out to the beach, her favorite country station on the radio, enjoying the cool breeze with the top down on her Jeep. It’s actually pretty chilly for Florida, but compared to D.C., it’s paradise. She walks out all the nervous energy up and down the beach, wondering if she’ll ever shake the jitters of excitement knowing she’s going to see Ali.

They spent last weekend together in Kansas City for Syd’s wedding, but of course that’s never enough. Ali was jet setting to the West Coast to be a total boss at the ESPNW summit, and Ashlyn was heading back home, but they were both going their separate ways with the promise of being reunited in just a few days.

Alex starts a group message with her, Ali, Serv, Brek, and all the Orlando City guys she’s befriended lately to nail down plans for the weekend, including the Orlando City game tonight, which Ashlyn now realizes she hasn’t told Ali about yet. Oops.

She checks her watch as she heads back to her car and realizes it’s already 10 a.m. and she needs to get to the airport like now. Luckily, there isn’t much traffic, and she gets to the baggage claim with time to spare. She spots Ali and heads toward her, smiling. “You made it!” she says, giving Ali a hug.

Ali seems to relax considerably, and Ashlyn squeezes her for a second before releasing her, wishing more than anything she could give her a kiss containing the pent-up desire she’s been containing for a week. Weddings just do something to her to reignite her fire, and being separated from Ali has not been conducive to that.

“Did you go surfing?” Ali asks.

“Nah, too cold,” Ashlyn says.

“Wimp,” Ali laughs.

“I also didn’t want to be worn out and let you run circles around me in training,” Ashlyn says.

“I’d do that anyway,” Ali says. “It’s in the notes that Dawn sent that I have to go easy on you, though.”

Honestly, Ashlyn wouldn’t doubt if that were true. When Dawn knows they’ll be training together, she tries to give them pretty similar routines even though the needs of a defender and the needs of a goalkeeper are so different. She’s watched the two of them train and knows how hard they push each other, so she would never let that go to waste.

“Are you ready?” Ashlyn asks, taking Ali’s luggage from her after she pulls it off the conveyor belt. “My parents are at work, but I can make you some food before we go to the field. You must be starving.”

“You have no idea,” Ali says.

Ashlyn whips up a breakfast of an omelette and turkey bacon, picking off Ali’s plate as she eats, Ali playfully swatting her hand away every so often. When they practice, Ashlyn can’t stop smiling, even when drenched in sweat, because it feels so good to do what she loves with the person she loves most in the world. And she was sure she’d never love anyone more than her family or Niki or Whitney. But then Ali came along, and everything changed.

Watching Ali get ready might be one of Ashlyn’s favorite things in the world. Ashlyn thinks back to when they first started talking about what she wanted to do for her birthday, and they knew Ali would be in California for the summit and they’d have to be in Seattle just a few days later, but Ali insisted that she would be there. Ashlyn said it was okay if she didn’t come, but inside she knew it wouldn’t be the same without her.

At the end of the day, wherever Ali decided to be would be where Ashlyn wanted to spend her birthday, but Ali decided to be wherever Ashlyn did. It’s the same thought process that makes it so difficult for them to choose where to go for dinner on date nights.

Ali runs a brush through her hair one last time, and Ashlyn rolls her eyes because it already looks perfect. “Let’s go,” she whines, wrapping her arms around Ali’s waist and pressing her lips to her neck. “We’re gonna be late.”

She’s already packed up the car, as they’ll be staying at a hotel instead of driving all the way back to Satellite Beach just to turn around tomorrow and head back. Ali won’t tell her where she got reservations, insisting that it’s a surprise, but Ashlyn would be happy in a crappy motel if it means getting to sleep next to Ali.

On the drive to the Citrus Bowl, Ashlyn realizes how much she takes these little moments for granted, the ones where Ali’s in her peripheral vision, singing and dancing along to the radio, fingers mindlessly threading through Ashlyn’s. Every so often, Ali wordlessly squeezes Ashlyn’s hand, lifting it to her lips, and every so often, Ashlyn melts under her touch.

Orlando wins 2 goals to 1, but Ashlyn’s favorite part, as always, is watching Ali watch the game. They chat with Alex a little bit about training and next week’s games against Brazil, but what Ashlyn loves about Alex is that it’s not all soccer all the time. Their relationship may have started out that way, but now their friendship transcends football, it has for years. They hang out with the players, and Ali finally gets to meet some of them for the first time. Of course, they’re all drawn to her because she’s amazing, but the more Ali socializes and flirts without realizing it, the more Ashlyn wants her to herself, not-so-subtly tugging on her wrist and raising her eyebrows till Ali gets the hint.

“We have a long drive,” Ali says. “So we better get going, but see you guys tomorrow!” They say their goodbyes and give hugs all around. Ashlyn laughs at Alex’s pleading look when she realizes she’s about to be left all alone with all the guys, but she’s used to it.

When they’re finally out of sight and far enough into the darkness of the parking lot, Ashlyn wraps an arm around Ali’s waist, pulling her close enough to kiss her temple. “Can you stop being so irresistible?” she asks. “Those guys were drooling.”

“Were not,” Ali says. “Either way, I plan on making out with you in every single country tomorrow, so they’ll figure out pretty quickly that I am completely unavailable. If they didn’t already realize it with you introducing me as your ball and chain and calling me babe every twelve seconds.”

“You liked it,” Ashlyn says, and Ali just laughs, nuzzling closer, only separating from Ashlyn when she opens the passenger door for her.

Ali doesn’t get in, though. She holds out her hand for the keys. “Get in, I’m driving,” she says.

“Al,” Ashlyn says, but she knows it isn’t worth arguing, and she is pretty beat from the day she’s had. “Fine. Where are we going?”

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Ali says, closing the passenger door after Ashlyn.

Ashlyn really does try to stay awake, but Ali plays Billy Joel, which is just calming enough to lull Ashlyn to sleep. She knows that was Ali’s plan all along, and she feels silly for falling for it, but she’s too tired to care.

She wakes up when she feels the car come to a stop and Ali gently stroking her hair. “We’re here, baby,” she whispers, kissing her on the cheek, and all of Ashlyn’s exhaustion is out the window when she sees where they are.

“You didn’t,” she gasps. They are in front of the Grand Floridian, one of the most lush—not to mention expensive—resorts at Disney. “Alexandra.”

“Happy birthday, honey,” Ali says, and Ashlyn would give her a hard time about how much money she must have spent to get a room even for a night, but Ali looks so excited that Ashlyn can’t do anything but kiss her in appreciation.

A valet takes the keys from Ali, and a bellhop takes their luggage. When Ali approaches the front desk to check them in, the concierge greets them both, a wide smile on her face. “Happy birthday, Ms. Harris,” she says to Ashlyn as she hands Ali the key. “You’ll be in a club level deluxe king room, and—wait, hang on a moment.” She furrows her brow, pulling the key back, and Ali looks worried. She punches a few keys on her computer and then smiles. She swipes the key one more time and hands it over. “There. Now you’re overlooking the Magic Kingdom. The fireworks are over, but it’s beautiful at night.”

The child inside Ashlyn does backflips, and she nearly squeals. This is truly what dreams are made of.

When they finally get back to their room, there’s a bottle of champagne and two glasses awaiting them. Ali kicks off her boots and jumps onto the bed with the bottle. “Watch out,” she says, and Ashlyn ducks as Ali pops the cork artfully. No eyes are lost. This time.

“I can’t believe you did this,” Ashlyn says. “How much—”

“Nope,” Ali says. “It’s your birthday, and we’re celebrating in style. No questions.”

“You know, I came here one time in middle school,” Ashlyn says, taking a flute from Ali’s hand and sitting on the bed beside her. “A friend had a tea party here for her birthday, and it was so extravagant and ridiculous. But I came home wanting so badly to stay here for just a night. I begged to have my birthday here, but my parents couldn’t afford it, so we stayed at one of the other resorts. I can’t even remember which now, but I remember being so mad at them, so confused as to why my friend could stay at the amazing beautiful resort and I had to stay at one of the cheesy ones for poor people. I didn’t realize at the time how fortunate I was to be able to go to Disney at all, to have parents who worked their asses off to try and make me happy, and how ungrateful I was for reacting like that.”

“I know,” Ali says. “You told me that once, on one of our first Skype dates.”

“And you remembered?” Ashlyn asks, feeling her breath taken away.

“I know it’s not a tea party, but I hope it’s almost as good,” Ali says with a small smile, clinking her glass with Ashlyn’s.

“This is so much better,” Ashlyn says. She pulls Ali in with her free hand on the back of her neck for a kiss. “But we are so not letting our kids be spoiled brats like I was. Deal?”

Ali laughs, taking a sip from her glass. “Deal.”

~

Saturday is when the big celebration begins, and Ali, not to be outdone by anything that would happen later, makes sure to start Ashlyn’s day off in the best way possible. Not that Ashlyn usually needs to work up an appetite to enjoy breakfast, but the room service spread of Mickey Mouse waffles and fruit does taste a lot sweeter after working up a little sweat.

They still have about an hour before they have to leave, so Ashlyn suggests a bath in the enormous tub instead of a shower. Big mistake. They lose track of time for obvious reasons and end up rushing out the door, sending texts to the group that they’re running late. Ali is stressed, but Ashlyn just reminds her that she’s the birthday girl and she’s allowed to have as much sex with her girlfriend as she wants for the entire weekend. She later amends that to include next weekend as well and makes a note of it to make hers and Ali’s roommates in Seattle and Orlando very aware of that rule.

Alex and Serv greet them at the door wearing the shirts they made, which thrills Ashlyn to no end. Everyone ends up wearing them, and Ashlyn doesn’t even care how lame they look, because they’re going to have a kick-ass day.

As promised, Ali kisses her in every country as they eat and drink around the world, and they take selfies to prove it. The guys give them a hard time about it, but they’re still willing to block them from prying eyes every time. They all work up a buzz well before sundown, and the sake bombs at the Japanese restaurant where they eat dinner don’t do much to help, but Ashlyn loves the slightly tingly feeling she has when they finally find a spot to sit for the fireworks.

Serv buys a few blankets from one of the ridiculously overpriced shops, and Ashlyn sits between Ali’s legs, leaning back into her chest while they wait for the show to begin. She tilts her head back far enough to give Ali access to her lips for a kiss.

It’s funny how the dark, the thing that made her most fearful as a child, makes her feel so safe and secure now. It’s not that she’s scared to be seen or “caught” with Ali in public, but she does feel some level of protectiveness over Ali and what they have, too much to risk anything coming out about them not on their own terms. That’s a big part of why they don’t hold hands or kiss in public, but more and more lately Ashlyn considers it.

Under the cover of night, though, and being surrounded by families who look much more preoccupied with keeping their toddlers from jumping over a fence and into the lagoon than taking a picture of them to post on Twitter later, she feels at complete peace with the way Ali’s arms wrap around her chest and the way her lips linger on her forehead.

“Happiest place on earth,” Ashlyn murmurs, and Ali just smiles.

“It really is,” she says.

“Not Disney,” Ashlyn says. “Right here. In your arms.” It’s dark, but she can still tell that Ali’s blushing. “Too cheesy?”

“Just cheesy enough,” Ali laughs, kissing her cheek. “Can you believe one day we’ll be one of those families?” she asks, nodding toward a family with a baby, a toddler, and two older kids.

“Four kids?” Ashlyn asks. “Maybe we should start with one and see where it gets us.”

“Sounds good,” Ali agrees. “Maybe life will take us here sooner rather than later.”

Ashlyn doesn’t respond, not wanting to ruin the moment with a conversation neither one of them wants to have. It always ends with one—usually both—in tears, and this is too perfect to let that happen. So instead, she reaches up to pull Ali’s head down again, capturing her lips just as the fireworks begin.

~

Ali’s antsy, and Ashlyn doesn’t know why. Ashlyn is packing for Seattle, but Ali, who has been packed since she woke up this morning, is sitting on the bed, biting her nails and tapping her foot, all sure signs that something is up.

“Is everything okay?” Ashlyn asks, and Ali looks up from her phone, flustered.

“Yeah, are you almost done?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Ashlyn says slowly. “If something was bothering you, you’d tell me, right?”

 

“Nothing’s bothering me,” Ali snaps. Ashlyn raises her eyebrows. “I’m sorry, I’m just starving. Can’t you finish this after lunch?”

“I could,” Ashlyn says. “But you’re the one who’s always telling me to think ahead. I was just trying to be prepared.”

“Okay, whatever,” Ali says. “I’ll be in the car.”

Ashlyn rolls her eyes and tosses a pair of sweatpants into her bag. “Alex!” she calls, heading out the door after her. “Is this about the expansion?”

“What?” Ali asks, whirling around. “No. We aren’t talking about that.”

“So it is,” Ashlyn sighs. “Al, just talk to me. We’re in this together.”

“Ashlyn, I’m genuinely just hungry,” Ali says. She walks toward her and puts her hands on her chest, giving her a quick kiss. “I promise I’ll help you finish packing, but you need to feed me.”

“Fine,” Ashlyn agrees, still feeling like something is off. They drive in almost silence until Ashlyn turns the radio on to drown out the tapping of Ali’s nails on her iPhone. “If I can hear your nails, you should probably trim them,” she says, and Ali glares at her playfully, sticking out her tongue. “I’m just saying, you aren’t coming near me otherwise.”

When she pulls up to Doubles, one of her favorite beach bars, Ali hops out and makes a beeline for the door, not even waiting for Ashlyn to open her door like she usually does.

“Slow down,” Ashlyn grumbles, following after her. Ali is already talking to the host when she gets inside, and Ashlyn stands beside her as she goes quiet.

“Right this way, ladies,” the host says, and Ashlyn puts a protective hand on the small of Ali’s back, guiding her ahead. He passes by a bunch of perfectly good booths, and Ashlyn frowns because she prefers booths. He swings open the door to the banquet room, and Ashlyn is confused for a split second but doesn’t have long to think about it before she walks in and everyone yells “surprise!”

Ali’s phone is up to capture Ashlyn’s surprise, and Ashlyn can’t think of anything to do but grab the phone from her and kiss her. Ali giggles, and Ashlyn is just relieved that this is what was making her antsy earlier and not anything bigger.

Her parents and brother are there, along with Jamie and Liz and all her childhood friends who are still in Satellite Beach. Ali hangs back as Ashlyn makes her way around the room to say her hellos and thank yous, but before she sits down at the head of the huge banquet table, she makes sure to grab Ali’s hand so she’s sitting right beside her.

“Thank you,” she says, squeezing Ali’s knee under the table when they sit down. “This has been the best birthday ever.”

“And to think the real thing isn’t even till tomorrow,” Ali replies with a wink.


	2. BONUS: Ali POV - The One With All The Jet Setting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So basically I was writing and accidentally started writing this section in Ali's point of view. I liked it a lot, but it was really clunky when the entire rest of it was written in Ashlyn's, so I scrapped it and rewrote it from Ashlyn's perspective. I liked what I ended up with a lot more, and it flowed way better, but I liked this too much to let it go to waste. I hope you enjoy!

Ali understands why it’s called a red eye when she looks into the mirror in the airport bathroom. She had left LA at 11:40 p.m. and landed in Atlanta just before 7 a.m. local time. It’s too early for Ashlyn to be awake, she knows, but she takes a Snapchat of her reflection, where she knows she looks just as crummy as she feels given the barely four hours of sleep she managed on the plane. She captions it “2 hr layover… help” then presses send.

She washes and moisturizes her face, thankful how much traveling had improved her foresight so she’d make sure to have the necessary skin care products in her carry-on. When she picks up her phone, she’s surprised that Ashlyn has already seen (and screenshotted) the snap and replied.

She opens it to see a picture of Ashlyn grinning over a cup of coffee. “Hurry!” it says, and Ali smiles. The fact that Ashlyn is awake before the sunrise in solidarity with Ali warms her heart, but she hopes that doesn’t mean Ash will be grumpy later in the day.

The airport is almost eerily quiet, but Ali finds a Starbucks and brings it back to her gate, where she takes about two sips before she passes out, only waking when a woman gently taps her shoulder to tell her the plane is boarding. The coffee is cold, but she doesn’t care, because in two hours she’ll get to see Ashlyn. Of course, she falls asleep on the plane to Florida as well, so when the pilot’s voice comes over the system saying they’ve begun their descent, it doesn’t feel like it’s been two hours.

Ali thought the butterflies were supposed to stop after the honeymoon phase of a relationship is over, but they’ve never gone away with Ashlyn. When she powers up her phone upon landing, there’s a group message going crazy with a bunch of numbers she doesn’t know, but Ashlyn, Alex, Brek, and Serv are involved, so she knows it must be about plans for the weekend.

When she gets to the baggage claim, Ashlyn is waiting with a grin on her face. “You made it!” she says, giving Ali a hug.

Ali breathes her in. Ashlyn’s hair smells like saltwater, and she knows she probably killed time this morning at the beach. “Did you go surfing?” she asks.

“Nah, too cold,” Ashlyn says.

“Wimp,” Ali laughs.

“I also didn’t want to be worn out and let you run circles around me in training,” Ashlyn says.

“I’d do that anyway,” Ali says. “It’s in the notes that Dawn sent that I have to go easy on you, though.”

“Are you ready?” Ashlyn asks, taking Ali’s luggage from her after she pulls it off the conveyor belt. “My parents are at work, but I can make you some food before we go to the field. You must be starving.”

“You have no idea,” Ali says, but the emptiness in her stomach doesn’t hold a candle to the fullness in her heart as Ashlyn wraps an arm around her waist and escorts her out to the car.

Ashlyn whips up an amazing breakfast of an omelette and turkey bacon, and even though Ali feels kind of out of whack eating breakfast at almost noon, she feels way more relaxed than she has in the past week since being with Ashlyn in Kansas City for Syd’s wedding.

When they’re on the field together running drills, Ali feels like she’s home, and she can’t wait to get Ashlyn home and start her birthday weekend off right. But, she has to behave herself a little while longer, at least while under the watchful eyes of the others on the fields.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I enjoyed writing it for sure.
> 
> QUESTIONS!  
> 1\. Favorite line? (This is LOOOONG, so you're welcome to include as many as you want) ;)  
> 2\. Which of Ashlyn's birthdays was your favorite to read about?  
> 3\. Tell me about your best birthday ever!  
> 4\. What's on your birthday wish list for Ashlyn?  
> 5\. If you could have read about one other birthday of Ashlyn's, which would it be (like, agewise)?  
> 6\. WHO'S EXCITED FOR THE UPCOMING GAMES ON THE VICTORY TOUR?!
> 
> You don't have to answer the questions, they're just there for gentle guidance :) Feel free to comment on anything and everything!
> 
> Remember, 50 comments and 100 kudos and I'll post a little something extra for you ;) Last time I offered one of these I VASTLY underestimated you all, so I'm setting my sights a little higher now.


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